


Round and Round and Round Again

by Rin_the_Shadow



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Musicals)
Genre: 'mercy kill' as in that's what the character who does it thinks he's doing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Escape, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, I will tag those in my author's notes, Imprisonment, La Reconquista, Regret, Some AU's will still have Major Character Death, Various genres. Will tag per chapter, also some tragedy here and there, ami x zoisite exists but can be easily ignored, and in 1 you could easily argue nephrite is an unreliable narrator, basically multiple idea dumps in prose form, i consider 2 and 3 to be pre-ami x zoisite since they aren't in a relationship yet, memory erasure and recovery, some blood in some chapters but will tag in my author's notes, touch-averse ami mizuno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26626846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: This is the way that things have to be. But wait…hasn’t this happened before? Does it always have to end this way?Alternative versions of events from the Sailor Moon musical, “La Reconquista,” at differing points of divergence.
Relationships: Jadeite & Kunzite & Nephrite & Zoisite, Kino Makoto & Mizuno Ami, Kunzite & Nephrite, Kunzite & Zoisite, Mizuno Ami & Tsukino Usagi, Mizuno Ami & Zoisite, Mizuno Ami/Zoisite, Nephrite & Zoisite, Prince Endymion & Shitennou
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. The Harshness of Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> While you don't necessarily have to have seen La Reconquista to understand what's happening, it may help with some events, characterization, and relationships. Each chapter will function as a stand-alone unless otherwise indicated, but I opted to put them in the same fic because they are all a collection around the same concept.
> 
> This first chapter focuses primarily on the Shitennou, and contains major character death. There are some depictions of violence and mentions of blood, but I have tried not to be too graphic. If this is something you would prefer not to read, the second AU chapter does not contain this.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wishing to spare his teammates the pain of duty, Nephrite alone goes to meet Zoisite in the cell. Something about this is entirely too familiar.

“I don’t like it,” Kunzite said as he watched Zoisite heading off in the direction of Sailor Mercury’s cell.

“Hm?” Nephrite almost wondered if they’d had this conversation before.

“He’s been seduced by that girl. The Moon Kingdom’s poisoned his mind.”

To the casual observer, Kunzite would have seemed completely impassive, but his fellow Shitennou knew better.

“We should have tried to take one of the others instead,” Jadeite agreed, clenching his fist.

Hindsight was such a pain. Of course it would happen this way. Zoisite may have been willing to use dirty tricks and manipulations, but that was when he could act at a distance, when he didn’t have to be face-to-face, having an actual _conversation_ with his target. And the soldier of wisdom had forced _plenty_ of conversation. No matter how much they tried to prepare him, the fact remained that Zoisite wouldn’t be able to anticipate every misdirection and half-truth she could pull. He would want to complete their mission well, and so he’d keep working until he thought he’d earned her trust. He’d offer compromise after compromise, believing he was breaking down her barriers and not realizing _she_ was the one who was breaking his. As much as they hated to admit it, the soldier of wisdom had always been a master at seemingly genuine deception.

They should have known from the very second he’d agreed to hold the handkerchief instead of her hand. No, before that. They should have known when he asked if he could talk with her at a distance, instead of either staying with her or giving up and retreating to the use of the app. It wasn’t his fault. He was too young to know better.

Even if Nephrite would never have told him that to his face.

“It’s my fault,” Kunzite growled. “I kept him under mentorship for too long.”

They’d all agreed that he’d needed it, but…

“What do we do?” Nephrite almost thought it had been Jadeite who’d spoken.

In that moment, he could have sworn Kunzite looked like he’d been stabbed. “If he has betrayed us, you _know_ what must be done.”

There was something dark and cold in the air, although none of them could acknowledge it. None of them would look each other in the eye.

“I’ll take responsibility for—”

“ _I’ll_ take responsibility for dealing with Zoisite.” Nephrite cut him off. His throat dried even before the words left his mouth. “I’ll go into the cells and see if he really has betrayed us. If not, I’ll bring him back here. If he has…”

There was no way he could ever put something like that on Kunzite. Not when he’d been the one to mentor him, and looked after him long before that. Even Jadeite… They had no memories of it, but he was almost certain the two of them had been in the same play group at some point.

It wasn’t like it would be _easy_ for him, but…it was different for them, somehow.

He’d half-expected Kunzite to deny his request. But he only told him, “Do what you must.”

Nephrite didn’t know why he had ever dared hold even the slightest bit of hope for any other outcome. He found Zoisite inside Mercury’s cell, and Mercury nowhere to be found. No sign of a struggle. He hadn’t even thought to fake being knocked out. _Why had he gone and sealed his own damnation?_

As Zoisite turned to leave, as he opened the cell door and saw that he’d been found out, Nephrite hated himself for what he had to do. He watched his expression go from shock, to recognition, then horror, and then it gave way to panic. Zoisite backed into the wall of the cell, and Nephrite followed, drawing his sword.

As Zoisite tried to feint and run past him, the blade caught him across the chest and he fell. As he struggled to his feet, grunting and biting back a whimper of pain, Nephrite wondered if this might be enough. If he might allow him to escape, and then fake being knocked out himself. But where would Zoisite go if he did that? The Moon people were only manipulating him. They wouldn’t heal him, and they certainly wouldn’t offer any other help. And if he ran into one of the other Shitennou…

“Please don’t hold his against me,” he whispered, driving the sword through Zoisite’s back and wincing at his scream. “But this is for the Earth.”

“Ami…Mercury…”

In the moment before he wrenched the sword loose, Nephrite realized this had happened before. Long ago, in a time known as the Silver Millennium, where they had served…not Beryl, but their king. Endymion!

This had all happened before. Queen Beryl had told them the people of the moon were planning a conquest, that they would kill Endymion if they allowed their kingdom to stand. But in the end, Endymion had been…not by the Moon Princess’s hand, or by the Queen’s, or even its people, but by…

The sword clattered to the ground. Damn it. _Damn it all_.

“ _Zoisite!_ ” His voice was ragged as he dropped down next to his fallen friend, hardly registering as he pressed his hands to the wound, as he frantically tried to tear his coat, just to find _something_ to try and stop the bleeding. But it was already too late.

From the moment he’d pulled out the sword, if not from the moment he’d driven it, it was too late.

And what was worse, Zoisite seemed to recognize it, too, numbly pressing his hands to the wound on his chest. Looking around like he didn’t understand what was happening, and it terrified him. Mumbling that name again and again, as if she could somehow stop the inevitable.

“ _Help! **Somebody help us!!**_ ” Even as the scream tore through his throat, he knew no one was coming.

He lowered his head, clenching his teeth. Feeling panicked, shallow breaths against his cheek. “Damn it…”

Zoisite’s eyes were already flickering, and Nephrite held him and wiped the sweat from his brow. Was there really _nothing_ left they could do? There had to be _something_ they could have done…anything… Why couldn’t he think of it? He was just a stupid kid in love, why had he had to…?

It seemed like a horrible eternity before Zoisite’s body had finally slackened and stilled, but it was hardly a second later that it began to fade. When it had finished, only a blue stone remained.

He took the stone to Kunzite. It was the only way he could tell him it was done. As he took the stone, he held it to his chest, head bowed to hide an expression of such pain he had known no one was supposed to have seen it.

Kunzite didn’t remember.

Jadeite didn’t remember.

At least, he didn’t think they did. Not yet.

Nephrite wasn’t even sure how much Zoisite had remembered, in the end.

But they needed to stop this. All of this. Otherwise, the only outcome they would ever reach would be…They would repeat the cycle, again and again and again.

“Kunzite,” he spoke, feeling numb. “Jadeite. There’s something you both need to know…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was actually something I half-expected to happen in the musical. I had thought that events playing out the same way or nearly the same with Zoisite and Mercury's situations might cause the other Shitennou to recover their memories at a slightly earlier point than they did, particularly for Nephrite, who actually struck the killing blow. 
> 
> I also wanted to look at the Shitennou's loyalty for each other, and how that might play into their ability to break Metalia and Beryl's brainwashing. While in the musical, they say that they kill Zoisite for being a traitor, they also claim he's been bewitched and deceived by the people of the moon. So I took that and ran with the idea that they may think he's being manipulated and is too far gone to save.
> 
> Kunzite's mentorship of Zoisite is not really something that's present in the musical, but since it is a generally manga-based adaptation I opted to import it. Jadeite's relationship to Zoisite is largely inspired by the works of "ms. commas and ampersands," as well as strawberrygina's "Sailormoon--Shitennou" art piece. (Nephrite's is actually probably the most 90's anime-based of them, but toned down by like 80 and thrown in a blender with the manga pages they shared. So I tend to write their relationship as squabbly sibling-types who will push each others' buttons, but either would end you if you laid a finger on the other.)
> 
> I promise the next chapters won't be so dark. But in any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	2. The Missing Variable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In that cell in the Dark Kingdom, Ami ponders her situation, the reality of her relationship, and the memories she hadn’t realized she lost. She can only hope she doesn’t solve the equation too late.
> 
> (Chapter does not contain major character death, but does mention implied death in a past life)

When he had first come to visit her in her cell, Ami had been suspicious. The other Shitennou had said it was nothing but a ruse, and from her perspective, this made sense.

“I don’t have to walk with you, but can I at least follow and talk at a distance?”

There was no one who would say that. When she shied away from love before, other people would just insist on her giving the boys a chance, and then give up quickly once they realized she couldn’t handle it. Offering a compromise like that? She should have recognized that as persistent, goal-directed behavior.

“I don’t know what to talk about.”

“Tell me about your dreams for the future?”

“To be a doctor,” she answered quickly. Give the right answers, and it would be over.

“What’s your type?” Ami took off running before he’d even finished the question. Too quickly, he seemed to recognize his mistake. “Aah! Sorry, sorry! I meant…what type of doctor?”

“General family physician. Or maybe a pathologist.” She hadn’t decided yet. Maybe he’d give up on hearing her say “pathologist.”

“Will you go to a private university for that?”

“No, I’m hoping to study abroad in Germany.”

“Wow! That’s really amazing…”

“I’m sorry.” She cut him off. Better not to let this go on too long, if he wasn’t understanding the desired response. “But boys are about thirtieth in the ranking of my priorities.”

“Thirtieth?” His eyes widened, but somehow he seemed more impressed than intimidated.

He hadn’t even seemed to mind when she’d given him the corner of her handkerchief to hold instead of her hand. That should almost certainly have killed any budding attraction. _Why don’t you just hold hands like a normal person?_ Instead…if she didn’t know better, she would almost have thought he found it endearing.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to talk about in situations like this.”

“Okay. Want to play Word Chain instead?”

If that hadn’t clued her in, then the moment it had started thundering and he asked her to wait while he bought an umbrella certainly should have. It was almost as if he’d sensed she was becoming overwhelmed and needed some time to herself to calm down. Where she could recite digits of Pi as far as she could remember without attracting strange looks from anyone else.

When he’d returned, he’d even insisted on her taking the umbrella when she couldn’t handle standing close underneath it. That hadn’t seemed right to Ami, and so she tried to convince him to let her go back and buy a second one for him.

She should have known it was all a trap.

At least, that was what Ami thought at first. But then, there were other things that didn’t add up.

That he had backed away instead of grabbing her when the other Shitennou arrived.

That he stood in front of her when Sailor Moon arrived, instead of keeping her in front as a hostage. As if he thought Usagi would attack her.

Then there were the multiple attempts to run away while everyone else was caught up in fighting, only to backpedal every time another Senshi appeared. The only time he’d made any attempt to fight back was when Sailor Jupiter had managed to get her away from him. And instead of joining forces when Kunzite arrived to bail him out, he’d simply grabbed Ami and tried to run again.

When Sailor Moon had used her tiara flash, he had tried to take the hit. As if she couldn’t have focused the blast away from her friend—or wouldn’t have. After that, the other Shitennou had simply shuffled them through a portal.

So then, should she conclude that he’d simply gotten turned around in their retreat? After all, before that, he _had_ mentioned getting lost while buying the umbrella. Maybe that was the only thing that wasn't a lie.

In the end, she’d simply asked him outright. “Did you deceive me?”

The amount of startled pain in his expression was almost a physical shock. “At first, I intended to, but…” He bit the edges of his lips. “Now, I…I don’t want to be your enemy.”

“…I don’t want to be your enemy either, Izou.” Somehow, she knew she was making the right choice. But it wasn’t just a knowing like the way she knew her formulas, either. There was something different.

“Zoisite,” he said quickly. “My real name is Zoisite.”

“Zoisite…” Somehow, she’d heard that name before. “There’s something I’m supposed to remember!” How did she know that?

“What is it?” He knelt down beside her.

Ami pressed her hands to the sides of her head. “I don’t know!”

“Try to remember.” Zoisite started to reach for her, then stopped himself at the last moment.

She tried to think of anything she could to shake the memories loose, complete the connections she wasn’t making. But in the end, she had nothing.

Zoisite had remained with her until he had become fidgety to the point of distraction. Finally, he stood up. “I can’t be with you the entire time while you remember. Someone will find me here, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. But I’ll be back as soon as I can, and I’ll stay as long as I can each time.”

Even then, it was almost as if he waited for her permission to leave. “Be careful,” she told him.

It was still another second after that he slipped away.

Most of what she could recall was not important for him to know. Even if it was a comfort that in the past, he had been every bit as wary of a relationship as she was today. Though she did tell him the two had been very intrigued in the differences between the Earth and the Moon.

Zoisite had laughed and agreed that this made sense, even if he couldn’t remember it himself. “Actually…I have had some memories surface lately,” he had admitted after. “But I don’t know if they’re really mine, or just because of what you told me.”

Later, Ami had recovered something else. A gala in which Zoisite had pulled her aside, gravely informing her that something was strange with the Earth lately. People were growing restless. “The people say that you of the Moon tempt us with your beautiful voices. There’s talk that you’ll even try to conquer the Earth!”

Queen Beryl had been the lead agitator in this, and Zoisite had been terrified that Kunzite, Nephrite, and Jadeite had already crossed over to her side. Endymion didn’t know, he hadn’t thought. But he would try to persuade them once they returned to Earth. “Just promise me you’ll stay away from Earth until it’s sorted out!”

There had been real desperation in his face that night. Mercury hadn’t been sure if he had truly believed he _could_ convince them, but she had agreed to warn Serenity and the others.

In the end, his fears had been well-founded. That same night, Queen Beryl and the armies of the Earth had attacked, and none of them had survived the battle. Somehow, Queen Serenity had connected with her, sending her the remaining parts of the story. That Queen Serenity had sent them to be reborn in this era to prevent that tragedy from happening again.

“That’s everything you remember?” Zoisite asked her.

“Yes, I think so,” Ami answered.

The truth was, there was one detail she had left out. In that final attack against the Moon Kingdom, she had not seen Zoisite anywhere. She didn’t know why she had left it out. The reason for his absence… it had only been a theory, but somehow, she felt it was correct. Maybe she thought it would be too painful if he remembered it.

But that was foolish. If he was beginning to recover memories, too, then it would only be a matter of time.

“Queen Beryl is preparing to marry Tuxedo Mask,” Zoisite told her. “She’s somehow returned him to that form…Endymion. I still don’t remember exactly who he was myself, but, if you say that I was his knight, then I believe you.”

He fidgeted with his hands, occasionally popping the knuckles of his fingers. “I need to go. If I don’t show up for at least part of the wedding, then the others will suspect me. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

“Be careful.” If her theory was correct, then he would need this reminder.

Zoisite nodded. “You, too.” And then he was gone.

Hardly an hour later, Zoisite was back. There was no greeting as he opened her cell door and stepped in, and he nearly reached for her with both hands before he stopped himself. Something was off. There was something desperate in his expression.

“There’s this entity I haven’t told you about before. But her name is Metalia. I don’t think she has a real form. I don’t know what she wants, but I don’t think Queen Beryl’s end goal is just to marry Endymion.” He ran an agitated hand through the curls of his ponytail. “I think they’re going to sacrifice you to Metalia once the wedding has ended. I don’t know. They talked about it earlier but I don’t know if it’s still part of the plan or…”

He brushed past her, knocking on the back wall of her cell and opening a passageway. Had this always been there? Any other time, she might have been fascinated with its composition, if it was magic or a truly solid tunnel. But this wasn’t the time for that.

“You can escape through here. Run, warn your friends, do whatever you have to do to stop this. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

Already, she knew that was a lie. And already, this was sounding all too familiar. If not the words, then the situation. The feelings. She was beginning to think she had figured out exactly when he died, back then.

“Okay, I’ll go.” She started to reach for his hand, and then stopped. “But you have to come with me.”

“What?” His eyes focused on her hand, as if he didn’t understand what she was asking. “But if I go missing, they’ll definitely suspect—”

“They’ll suspect you either way once I’m gone!” She couldn’t tell him everything, not yet. But if he knew there was more to the picture, maybe he would agree.

“There’s something I haven’t told you yet, too. About something I remembered. I can’t explain now, but if you stay here…” Ami shook her head. There was no time to think of a better way to say it, nothing that wouldn’t tell him exactly what she’d seen. She reached out and grabbed the cuff of his sleeve. “Please, believe me.”

Zoisite watched her hand on his sleeve, then looked back down the hall. In that instant, something clicked. “Okay,” he said. “I trust you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> La Reconquista really sold me on these two adorable dorks as a pairing. Particularly the scene with the handkerchief and the word game. Though, to be honest, I actually saw them as pre-relationship in this musical. They have some obvious attraction to each other, but Ami seems to take relationship-development slower, and Zoisite would respect that even if I didn't think he needed to take it slower as well.
> 
> But this is also another moment where actually, for a split second, I thought Ami would convince Zoisite to escape with her (even though I know this would wreck the Silver Millennium parallels which were so, so fantastic in the musical). Though, he may have thought he needed to stay back and buy time for her, particularly since it was unclear to me if it was a literal hidden door, or if Zoisite created a portal she walked through.
> 
> Ami wanting to potentially become a pathologist is admittedly my own invention, since I think the manga implies she wants to be a general physician, but I liked the idea, so I added it.
> 
> I may end up adding a fourth chapter at some point to continue this one, but I would need to figure out what I think changes as a result of this besides just the obvious, "Zoisite isn't killed by his brainwashed teammates in Ami's cell." 
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	3. A Bit of an Odd Reversal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sailor Jupiter was able to buy enough time for Ami to transform, so the Dark Kingdom did not succeed in kidnapping her. The problem is, now that they've ended up with one of the Shitennou in their custody, they have to figure out what to do next.
> 
> This chapter does not contain major character death.

“Well…What do we do now?”

That was a question they had asked many times in the short while since that battle had ended. Somewhere in all the chaos, Sailor Jupiter had managed to defend Ami long enough to let her transform. Queen Beryl and an older woman (Lemures?) called Baba had arrived, calling Tuxedo Mask by a name they didn’t recognize. And somehow, the battle had ended with an unconscious Tuxedo Mask in the hands of the Shitennou…and one of the Shitennou unconscious and in the hands of the Senshi.

They weren’t sure how they’d gotten away without the other Shitennou either trying to trade Tuxedo Mask for their own, or attacking to try and rescue him. They might have succeeded, with Sailor Moon still weakened from the dating sim game. Maybe they hadn’t liked their chances against four undrained Senshi? Just because they were waiting for something called the Silver Crystal? Or did Queen Beryl have some other reason?

It had all happened way too fast…

But the first real question had been where to take their…prisoner? Hostage? None of them were quite sure what he was supposed to be, but taking him with them seemed like a better idea than just leaving him on the sidewalk for the others to pick up.

Really, where _were_ they supposed to take him? It wasn’t like they had anywhere specifically set up for that, but when they’d contacted Luna, she didn’t seem to think it was too terrible of an idea as long as it didn’t put the Dark Kingdom in a position to discover their identities. (And pitched the mother of all hissy fits when she learned that actually, it was kinda too late for that, and that, one way or another, the Shitennou had already figured it out even before they had transformed.)

“I would offer the Shrine. We could use our power to seal off one of the rooms…” Rei started. But despite her offer, she’d seemed hesitant. And for good reason, when they’d had dealings with the Dark Kingdom there before. If any of the Shitennou had been overseeing that operation, they would know about it.

“If the Shitennou know who we are, that’s going to be the first place they look. And if we encounter them there, there's sure to be a fight.” Minako shook her head. “There’s no way we could ask that of you. We’ll use the secret base.”

Of course, the secret base had come with its own set of problems. The biggest one being how to get inside during the day without attracting attention.

In the end, the answer had been a combination of having Makoto half-carry, half-drag him and having Usagi channel her disguise pen in a way that concealed the fact that they were definitely transformed, and he was definitely being dragged more than he was walking. Or…actually not walking at all. And of course, no one had known if Usagi’s pen could actually be _used_ on another person or if she would even have enough power to keep the illusion up, but between her own stubbornness and Rei and Ami lending her a bit of their own power, she had managed it.

Thankfully, the crowd was small enough that no one had noticed them slipping through a magic door, either. Or maybe someone had and just decided that was completely normal, what with all the new companies that turned out to be energy-stealing scams, the transforming superheroes, and the monsters popping up out of nowhere. A bunch of girls disappearing into a game console was probably one of the _least_ bizarre things they’d seen lately.

The secret base had always shifted according to their will, and now was no exception. The stage had altered itself to act as a holding cell, which they could use a portion of their power to maintain.

Once they had secured their prisoner inside, it was time to regroup. There was a brief debate over whether they should detransform. After all, he already knew their identities. At the same time, Minako was quick to point out that if something went wrong, they might not all have enough time to transform back. After all, Ami had only escaped because Sailor Jupiter had been able to cover her long enough, and that was just _one_ of them. Besides, it took more energy to activate the transformation than to maintain it, and with their magic powering the cell, that wasn’t a risk they wanted to take. So, remaining transformed it was.

“So…what do we do now?” Makoto repeated her question.

This time, Usagi was ready with her response. “We need to rescue Mamo as fast as possible!”

“I agree,” Rei said, to everyone’s surprise. “I can’t explain it, but whenever I focus on him, I can sense something ominous.”

“And you’re sure it isn’t just because he’s been captured?” Minako wasn’t _really_ disputing Rei’s sixth sense. It was just that working alone for so long had given her a tendency to check every possibility first.

Rei’s frown deepened. “No. It’s something beyond that. The way he lost the will to fight when those four introduced themselves to him. I don’t like it. And Queen Beryl…she seemed to think she knew him.”

Beside them, Ami was plugging away at one of the computers.

“Watcha looking at?” Makoto leaned on the chair behind her.

Ami’s brows lowered as she shifted her focus to include the conversation. “What Rei said made me think of something. My computer’s picked up on traces of dark energy, but it’s not coming from inside him like we might expect. I mean…there _is_ some of that as well, but this one is much larger and stronger than that. Sort of like a type of radiation, in a sense. Almost as if he’s been exposed to a major power source.”

“Huh.” Sometimes when Ami found a lead and went after it, her mind moved through the connections faster than Makoto could keep up. “So what does that mean for us?”

“If it means what I think it means…then I’m not sure yet if it will be possible, but if it works out the way I’m hoping it does, then we might be able to pinpoint the location of the Dark Kingdom’s hideout through that energy signature.”

But at least when she explained stuff, things clicked. “So we could spring a surprise attack _and_ rescue Tuxedo Mask!”

The rest of the Senshi crowded around her as they heard that. Usagi was immediately hopeful, wondering how long it would be before they could go and if they would need any new gadgets, but Rei and Minako seemed more hesitant.

“It won’t be that simple,” Minako spoke first. “We’ll still need to figure out where to go once we’re inside. How precise can you get with the computer?”

Another pause. “I’m not sure yet.”

“Well, do what you can. For the rest…” Minako cast a glance towards their prisoner, who was just beginning to rouse. “We’ll figure something out.”

Said prisoner’s awakening was, of course, just another tic mark in what was already a very weird day. He had initially been cautious, keeping his expression as neutral as he could, but not entirely able to mask his eyebrows pinching upwards. He’d noticed the Senshi soon enough and seemed to take in stride where he was, sitting himself up and crossing his legs in almost a meditative position. Probably trying to stay calm, by the way he kept looking around at everything.

Finally, he’d come right out and said, “This place is cute! Is this a secret base?”

As much as they might have wanted to think it was an act, that he was just trying to push their buttons or act like it wasn’t a real secret hideout just because they actually wanted it to have some function outside of investigative work…It didn’t seem to be the case.

In any event, it was rapidly becoming apparent that he wasn’t that much older than them. Maybe a grade or two at most. Ami was willing to guess that he had probably already taken his high school entrance exams, since he didn’t appear stressed out enough to have been studying for them on top of Dark Kingdom work. And he had initially bitten his lip and turned his head away to hide his expression.

But when he turned back, he simply stated, “I don’t remember.”

 _That_ almost certainly had to be a lie. “Sure you don’t,” Rei replied.

He started to hold up his hands, but then gripped them instead and forced them back down. “No, really. I don’t remember anything before the Dark Kingdom. So if you’re looking for information on us, then you won’t find anything except what’s on Pandemic Four’s official website.”

“That’s not really something to be proud of…”

“And…what if we’ve played the game your store gave us?” Usagi was shockingly menacing, even if she wouldn't actually go through with any threat.

“Uh…” There was a sudden pinkish tinge to his face. “Well, that’s just a game, of course. Some things were based off us, or at least our Pandemic Four personas, but I don’t think there’s anything relevant to what you’d want to know.”

“Uh-huh, and just what do you think we’d want to know?” Rei and Makoto, on the other hand, probably _would_ make good on a threat.

“I don’t know! I’ve been unconscious!” he snapped.

It very quickly became apparent that this conversation was going nowhere.

However unwilling he was to give information to the others, he had been much more willing to talk to Ami, even in her Sailor Mercury form. He would never speak loudly, especially when the others were close by, but he had at least been willing to give her his real name, Zoisite, and that even though he had initially intended to deceive her and take her to the Dark Kingdom, that wasn’t something he wanted anymore.

“I’m actually almost relieved it didn’t work out,” he had admitted. “But if we’d had more time, I could have let you escape. I could have told the others you’d figured me out and run away.”

“You say that as if I was the one captured instead,” she answered, adjusting another parameter on her analysis.

A smile cracked in his face. “That’s true. I guess this way isn’t so bad.”

Ami raised an eyebrow.

“I mean this way I’m not the one who has to watch what happens to you. And…I may be mistaken, but it doesn’t… _seem_ like you want to kill me…” Zoisite explained hastily, then grimaced. As if that would put the idea in their heads.

“No,” she answered. “That’s not really the way we do things.” Not off the battlefield, at least. Not if they thought they had another option.

“Then I guess this way is…” he hesitated. “I can’t ally myself to the Moon Kingdom. But I don’t want to be _your_ enemy.”

She had hesitated as well, checking to make sure the others weren’t paying attention before she replied, “I don’t want to be your enemy, either.”

Though she had to wonder if that would be possible, in the end.

Still, there was no harm in trying. “Why can’t you become our ally? What’s wrong with the Moon Kingdom?”

Truthfully, she wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. Ami didn’t have any memories of her past life. Most of them didn’t, though Luna and Artemis had made some comments that made her wonder about Minako. She wasn’t even entirely sure that their past lives was what he was referring to. But there was no Moon Kingdom, not in this era. So what else could he have meant?

“Shouldn’t you know?” His question seemed genuine. His head had quirked to one side and he began fiddling with the rings on his fingers, sliding and turning them. He'd done that often enough by now that she knew he wasn't trying to do anything but soothe frazzled nerves.

But how was she supposed to answer that? “What am I supposed to know?”

His mouth opened and closed several times, brow pinching as if he wasn’t sure whether she really meant that question or if it was rhetorical. “I don’t know,” he finally answered. “But I think at some point, the Moon Kingdom must have been a threat to the Earth. And we have to achieve our goal before it revives, otherwise—”

“Is that why the Lemures have been draining people’s energy?” As Ami spoke, she noticed his dark energy levels beginning to fluctuate on her computer. That was odd.

“That’s just something we have to do! Our Great Ruler needs energy to revive herself, and humans don’t use all of theirs. Even if they did, it’s not like they would notice a few people collapsing, so…” Something was failing to add up. She could see that as his gaze flitted about the room.

“And how does Endymion factor into that?” It was something Beryl had called Tuxedo Mask somewhere during the chaos, why she had insisted on his capture. The name obviously meant something to her, and though Zoisite had been unconscious at the time, he might know something.

“Who?” Seconds later, he flinched and bit back a pained squeak. His hands came to grip his temples as he curled in on himself.

“Zoisite! What’s happening?” Alarm flared within her and she rushed to check the computer levels. What was going on? A migraine? Brain injury? Was this “Great Ruler” he’d mentioned somehow exerting control?

There was no change in his dark energy levels, so Dark Kingdom influence was out. Probably. Maybe. Unless…

“Endymion…” He forced himself to repeat. “Who’s…that?”

 _I don’t know!_ she wanted to shriek. If she’d known it would cause that reaction…no, she _should_ have known. The same thing had happened to Mamoru when he recognized the Shitennou. How could she not have guessed…?

“Mercury! What’s happening?” In an instant, Jupiter was there.

“Endymion…” she repeated. “He had that reaction to the name Endymion.”

“What do we do?” Ami wished she knew any better than they did.

In the end, Usagi had decided to use a modified version of her Healing Escalation. She didn’t have enough power to use its full effects, not while she was recovering from the game, but it was at least enough that it quieted him.

“Mamo…Mamo had the same reaction when he heard _their_ names…”

There was something they were supposed to remember, wasn’t there?

Rei’s frown deepened. “It’s like there’s something just beyond my senses that I can’t quite grasp,” she observed. “Endymion, Beryl, and those four. Minako…”

“I don’t know everything.” Minako spoke quickly. “There are some details I’m still missing. It would be better if your memories came back on their own, but I can still tell you what I—”

“There’s no need for that.” Another voice filled the room.

“Who’s there?” Makoto and the others were instantly ready.

“I am the queen of the ancient moon, Serenity.” She paused. “My dear princess…How it grieves me that I cannot see your face, but I can at least hear your voice. Can you hear me?”

“I hear you!” Usagi called out.

“There is something I wish to give you. You must come to your birthplace, to the Moon Kingdom, where you lived your past life in the Silver Millennium, on the moon.”

“On the moon?!” Ami’s own voice startled her. “But…that’s impossible. There’s no air on the moon, and…”

“Don’t be afraid,” she urged. “Your magic will protect you, and my voice will be your guide.”

Queen Serenity began to sing. As she did, power flowed into the Senshi’s bodies. It wasn’t a trade. Somehow, they knew she wouldn’t take it away if they chose not to come to the moon. But with the threat of the Dark Kingdom rising, with Mamoru captured and Zoisite no more able to provide answers than any of them, they would need any help they could get. 

Beyond that, there was something about this which felt right. “Queen Serenity,” Usagi called, “I want to meet you!”

Although Queen Serenity had presented the offer to all of them, in the end, Ami had decided to stay behind. Someone would need to keep an eye on Zoisite once he awoke. It wasn’t as though he had been a particularly difficult prisoner before, but in his place, if she had found she was alone and likely to be so for awhile, the urge to escape would have been powerful. She would send her visor with Sailor Jupiter and transmit the video feed to her mini-computer, and this way, she would learn the same truths Serenity offered the others.

It wasn’t necessary, of course. Queen Serenity was capable of speaking directly to her without it. But having the visual was preferable for several reasons. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t imagine things in her own head, but in her experience, having a “physical” copy was better.

Ami had lost contact with the group at one point. That was to be expected as a side-effect of the teleport, and between her own magic and Queen Serenity’s aid, it was back as soon as they reached the moon.

How could such impressive ruins have gone undiscovered in previous lunar missions? Were they concealed by magic? Incredible! But that wasn’t important for the time being. What _was_ important was the holy sword through which Serenity’s will lived on.

What _was_ important was that during the Silver Millennium, the people of the Moon and the Earth had lived cordially, although relationships between them were forbidden. That Princess Serenity, Usagi’s past life, and Endymion, Mamoru’s past life, had entered a relationship in spite of this. That one day, there had been a meteor shower which carried within it an entity called Metalia, who had poisoned the minds of people, like Beryl, like the Shitennou, among others. She had incited them to act against the Moon Kingdom.

“I cannot explain as much as I would like, but please, take this advice with you. You cannot run from your destiny; you must face it. Begin with Destiny, and your mission will change.”

“Ami? Are you all right?” Somewhere in there, Zoisite had awakened. Sometime after the video feed had cut out again, if Ami had to guess.

Was she? There had been too much to take in, too much to process all at once. Her past life. Usagi…all of them. An entire kingdom and alliance which had somehow been completely erased from their history. And who could they even ask for guidance? Who could any of them ever tell who would believe them? And that wasn’t even beginning to factor in the memories that had started pushing their way back up, though she was at least grateful they didn’t seem to cause physical pain for her.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “There’s a lot which I’ve started to remember, and a lot which I can’t quite remember yet, either.”

She was telling him entirely too much. Part of her screamed that he could still be their enemy, in spite of his insistence that this wasn’t what he wanted, among other things he had told her (while occasionally getting distracted by the computers, among other things).

“I know who Endymion was,” he spoke up. It was a statement, but something about the way he sat himself up, something about his wide-eyed expression made it almost seem like a question.

“So do I,” she replied. “I know about Metalia as well. She’s the one you called your Great Ruler, isn’t she?”

Zoisite flinched. “Yes. And I know she fanned some of the conflict between the Earth and the Moon.” He suddenly flinched. “But I don’t think that was the only thing that caused problems!”

His hand came back to his temple, and the other gripped the curls of his ponytail almost frantically. More memories? Why was it so much harder for him? Just because he didn't have Queen Serenity to guide him as she had?

But the computer beeped and alerted her. It wasn’t that there was _more_ dark energy, just that what it was doing…Wait, was it somehow resisting the memories?

“I can’t heal you like Sailor Moon,” she said, pushing away from the computer and kneeling down beside the makeshift cell. “But I might still be able to help. Come here.”

Somehow, in spite of the pain, he managed to crawl towards her. The barrier’s energy shifted, and she pushed her hands through to either side of his head. The thought of actually touching him even through gloves still made her nervous, and besides that, it would probably be dangerous to try this with direct contact, so she let her hands hover next to his temples.

Channeling her magic, she concentrated a smaller version of her Aqua Mist, focusing on its cooling effect. It wouldn’t stop the pain that came with remembering, but it might at least ease it some.

After a minute or so, his face untensed and his breathing evened out. When she withdrew her hands, he gave a tired laugh. “I guess this is what they mean by ‘ignorance is bliss,’ huh?”

“I don’t know. Did you prefer it when you didn’t remember anything?”

Zoisite thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I don’t think I did.”

A flash of that chaotic final battle appeared in the corner of her mind. Ah. Right. This was no time to get distracted. “Is it always this painful for you?”

“Not _this_ painful. Some aren’t so bad.” Ami wasn’t sure if that was a lie. They’d talked enough before that it was entirely possible he had some kind of ranking system.

Ami considered what she was about to say. It would probably be a bit forward, but if it would stop the memory resistance, it might be worth it. “You should consider letting Sailor Moon heal you.”

His eyes widened for a second. “But I thought…Wasn’t that what she did before?”

“A weakened version, yes,” she nodded. “But she’s since recovered her strength. Excuse me for taking the liberties of scanning you,” even though it was probably excusable in this case, “but we found traces of dark energy within you. I think it might be what’s causing your pain when you remember things.”

“And you think removing it…” He moved to twist one of his rings again. “I don’t know if I can accept that. Not yet, at least.”

Logically, was there any reason to refuse? A flash of panic, a frantic glance around the palace, looking for someone who wasn’t there… Maybe there were some things it would be easier to forget.

“You have time to think about it,” Ami smiled, hoping she came across as reassuring. “You can decide what you want to do when the others return.”

But when they had returned, none of them had quite expected his answer. When they had decided that they were going to D-Point, insisting that there was a horrible, ominous feeling and they needed to hurry before things escalated any further, he had stood and declared, “I’m coming with you.”

“What?” Usagi spoke for all of them in that moment.

“That ominous sense, I feel it too. And I don’t have a sixth sense, so... I don’t understand it, but I think something is about to happen. I’m worried about Kunzite, Nephrite, and Jadeite.” As he spoke, his gaze flitted between Ami and Usagi, the one he was comfortable speaking with versus the one he thought he needed to convince. “I don’t know if they’ll remember anything or not, but either way, they’ll believe me before they believe you. Besides, you’ll need someone who knows their way around the Dark Kingdom, and since I worked and lived there, I do.”

When Minako and Rei only exchanged a concerned look, he added, “I intend to try to warn them whether you allow me to or not. I can come with you as a guide, or you can deal with me as—”

“Mercury, you spent the most time with this person. Do you trust him?” Venus interrupted.

There was a flash of hurt in his eyes, but at the same time, he seemed to understand. It was serious. They didn’t have time to go through everything. It wasn’t like he had done all that much to prove himself.

She couldn’t disclose everything. It wouldn’t be fair. But he had said enough, and she had remembered enough to know her answer. “Yes.”

“Then, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I liked the futuristic secret base in the manga, I loved how PGSM's base could have multiple uses depending on what the girls wanted it for, so in my mind, this base actually could look like the futuristic supercomputer base if that was what they needed or wanted it for in that moment. (Zoisite thinking the base was cute is actually just me exaggerating his reactions to some things in Reconquista and applying them to other things besides just that.)
> 
> While based on events in Reconquista, some of the Dark Kingdom's operations probably played out very differently than in the manga/anime/Crystal, I liked the idea that something probably still happened at the shrine which would lead to the Dark Kingdom's being aware of it regardless of whether or not any Shitennou had set foot there before. 
> 
> I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do with Luna and Artemis, but I still wanted them to exist in this AU. Additionally, while I don't necessarily think that all singing in La Reconquista is meant to be understood as "the characters literally hear each other singing," I felt it worked for Queen Serenity to be singing in order to guide them to the moon, rather than just talking.
> 
> The whole air-on-the-Moon thing is not meant to be nit-picking, but more of an excuse for me to shoehorn magic discussion into the fic. Though it does help that I think Ami would be interested in how this magic works. Furthermore, I felt that Reconquista (as well as Crystal and PGSM) implied that the girls had more uses of their magic than just the named attacks, but I also liked the idea that they could channel just how much of it they used, or how they used it. I'd like to explore a *lot* more around their magic use at some point.
> 
> While I don't think that the Metalia-thing was *all* brainwashing, I can't ignore the scene where Beryl mindwipes three of her four Shitennou just for asking about their conflicting memories, or that they appeared to be in pain while they were starting to remember things before that. Though I haven't quite decided the ratio of mind-wiping to everything else yet, I do think memory blocks are part of it. Zoisite's insistence that Metalia wasn't the only one who caused problems is me stealing from "Starlights! Ryuusei Densetsu," where they seemingly do air their grievances against Endymion and the Moon Kingdom after being freed from brainwashing.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	4. Going Rogue, or Something Like That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their memories thrown into question, it seems like the simplest solution is to go to Queen Beryl for answers. Kunzite decides an alternative course of action is in order.
> 
> This scenario does not contain major character death.

There was too much that wasn’t adding up. From Queen Beryl’s sudden retreat to Tuxedo Mask somehow knowing Zoisite’s name even though he had already retreated with Sailor Mercury in tow even before his arrival. At first, Kunzite had wondered if it meant he had betrayed them, though he regretted that thought as soon as it sprang up.

If Zoisite had somehow encountered Tuxedo Mask and told him his name, it shouldn’t have caused such a strong reaction when he heard theirs. If Zoisite intended to betray them, he would already have known about them, and would have been warned to keep his mouth shut about anything that could give them away. If Zoisite intended to betray them, he would have given enough information to put names to all their faces even before they introduced themselves. And if he was being duped, he would have tried to check with Kunzite at some point. If he didn’t feel like he could ask Kunzite, then he would have asked either Jadeite or Nephrite, and if for some reason they couldn’t figure it out, _they_ would have asked Kunzite. Zoisite may have had his share of naivety, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tell when he was wading in over his head.

No. He would not betray them. And Kunzite made sure that Jadeite and Nephrite understood that as well.

Which brought them to problem number two. The memories that were trying to push their way to the surface in the form of a massive migraine. Which the others seemed to be sharing, except for Zoisite, who only seemed to be sidestepping it because he hadn’t seen Tuxedo Mask while he was conscious. Or perhaps, more likely, it was because they hadn’t told him what happened on the battlefield.

The memories were probably theirs. None of them had any memories before Beryl. It had always been something they’d tried not to think about, pouring themselves into their missions and other distractions, just to forget that the gaps existed. Queen Beryl said they had allied themselves with her because of the threat of the Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium, and their objective was to revive their Great Ruler and prevent them from rising again. There was nothing in Kunzite which had said this was false, and his research had turned up no results which directly contradicted anything she said.

Yet there always seemed to be pieces missing. And at least some of those pieces were now boring through their skulls, apparently.

Beside him, Nephrite groaned in pain. “This isn’t making any sense! Beryl said we were _always_ on her side, so who the hell is this other guy?”

“It’s no good just sitting here!” Jadeite growled, pushing himself to his feet and stumbling. “We should just ask her directly!”

A sentiment Kunzite would normally have agreed with. But this time…

“No,” he said, surprising even himself with his firmness.

The others stopped and turned back. “Kunzite?”

“If Beryl intended to give us those answers, she would have done so by now.” Either she didn’t know, or she didn’t want them to know. Neither was a promising option.

“Then what should we do?” Jadeite whipped around, bringing a hand to his temple as he bit back a wince. “We can’t just sit here like this!”

“We won’t,” Kunzite confirmed. “But if we want any answers, we need to think a little farther ahead.”

He flinched as another memory forced its way to the surface. A flash of battle—no, sparring? And his partner was…

“Kunzite!” Nephrite’s hand clamped on his shoulder, yanking him back into the present. He focused on that, the feeling of pressure over pain. “What is it? Did you see anyone?”

What? No, he hadn’t seen the other person’s face. Not clearly. But how would they have known that anyone was there?

“You looked like you saw someone you recognized, for a moment there,” Nephrite clarified, not looking any less unsettled.

“Not clearly. But that’s not important right now. We’ll head to the holding cells. Zoisite will most likely be heading that way, so we’ll be able to pick him up on our way out.” Kunzite thought quickly. “We should take Mercury as well. As a bargaining chip, if nothing else.”

Her absence would deprive the Great Ruler of the power she would have gotten from devouring her. But once she’d gotten out, she’d be able to transform. She would still be dangerous, and they would need to be cautious.

“And Endymion?”

“We’ll evaluate our chances on the way. If he is unguarded and the opportunity presents itself, grab him. If not, leave him. Any objections?”

“If the memory surge comes back?” Nephrite’s tone was strangely quiet.

“Then press on. If you can still walk, help those of us who can’t. If none of us can get up, drag yourself and pray that Metalia doesn’t find you.”

Retrieving Endymion proved out of the question. Queen Beryl sat beside him, gazing longingly at the still form. Briefly, it occurred to Kunzite that he had been incapacitated earlier, that Zoisite had taken Beryl’s orders in his place. Hopefully, the development of these strange memories would be gentler on him than it had on the rest of them.

Jadeite winced and bit his sleeve, and Nephrite moved in to assist him as Kunzite ushered them ahead. A quick glance behind him confirmed that Queen Beryl, at least, hadn’t heard them. With Metalia, on the other hand, he was not so sure. _Move quickly, then_ , Kunzite reminded himself.

When they reached Mercury’s cell, Zoisite flattened himself against the lock. “Kunzite! Everyone! How was the battle? You look unwell, are you all right? Perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere, considering,” he said with a nod towards the girl.

If he hadn’t asked Kunzite to wait earlier, or if Kunzite had forgotten that, it might have worked. “Zoisite, move aside. We’re heading out.”

“What?” Zoisite’s head tilted, brows lowered. His gaze drifted between the three of them. “Did something happen?”

“We…don’t know yet.” Of course, his head would pick now to remind him of the more unpleasant side effects. _Keep it together_.

“You don’t know?”

“ _You_ don’t?” Nephrite stepped forward.

There was a flash of annoyance. “What _am_ I supposed to know?”

Jadeite started to speak up, but then lowered his hand and shook his head. “Actually, no, you’re going to find out sooner or later anyway, and it’s not going to be fun.”

Zoisite swore under his breath, and Nephrite gave his shoulder a sympathetic pat before proceeding to lift him up and throw him over his own shoulder. As he squawked in protest, Jadeite held out his hands as if he could stop them both from toppling if Nephrite lost his balance. Apparently, it didn’t matter that they were in front of an opponent. One way or another, Kunzite wasn’t surprised.

Through all of this, Mercury had watched them, making herself as still and quiet as possible. Whether her concern was genuine or not, Kunzite knew better than to assume she was some fearful mouse. Throughout this time, she would have been studying them, evaluating what their next move should have been.

“Nephrite.” Kunzite pushed down the memory flare and attempted to sound stern. “Put Zoisite down so he can unlock the cell. We need to leave, now, and we can’t risk Metalia consuming this girl and obtaining more power.”

“Tell Zoisite to stop kicking me first,” Nephrite protested, but after a moment, he did so anyway.

Once he had unlocked the door, it did not escape Kunzite’s notice that Zoisite kept Mercury behind him, as if this might have been a trick so they could take her to be sacrificed.

“Now, we’ll need to move quickly,” Kunzite said for what felt like the hundredth time that hour. “We don’t know when these memory spikes could become unbearable again, and we need to get away from Metalia’s reach before that happens.”

“I can open a passage here,” Zoisite offered, gesturing to the back wall of the cell. Kunzite’s eyebrow raised. How convenient that he hadn’t shared that when they’d locked Mercury in.

Still, this wasn’t the time to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Go ahead,” he told him, and Zoisite obeyed. He went through the passage first, still keeping the girl in front of him, and then Kunzite ushered Jadeite and Nephrite through before he followed. A clasping gesture from Zoisite closed the door behind them.

However far they had gone, it hadn’t seemed long before Mercury spoke up. “You should let me transform.” Kunzite was almost surprised at the force behind her words. Her tone was polite, and yet, he wasn’t sure that this was a request as much as a demand.

“And why should we do that?” he answered. The people of the Moon had been dangerous. That much had remained consistent even between the conflicting accounts in his head. And she had reason to want to attack them.

“You mentioned your memories returning, and you seem to find them unpleasant.” An understatement at best. “I’ve already regained mine. If this Metalia pursues and any of you is incapacitated, it lowers our odds of escape. If I can transform, then you’ve got some defense, at least.”

“Ami…” Zoisite’s fingers tightened around her sleeve, and his foot skimmed a slightly raised rock.

What would he have said? _We can’t force you to defend us all_. Perhaps that was what Kunzite would have said, had she been their ally. If for no other reason, because as their leader, that was his responsibility.

He weighed the risk in his mind. If she chose to attack, that still deprived Metalia of a power source, as long as she wasn’t recaptured. She probably would be able to meet up with her fellow Guardians—Kunzite wasn’t fool enough to believe they wouldn’t track this place eventually—which would put them at a disadvantage compared to the Moon Kingdom, but they might at least be able to convince them that, for now at least, Metalia was the more pressing enemy. If they didn’t decide that Kunzite and his Shitennou were the easier target, of course.

If she chose to attack, he might have enough time to push in front of Nephrite and Jadeite, but at Zoisite’s range, he would have to rely on avoiding it himself. Perhaps any lingering feelings she might have for him would lead her to hesitate.

But it seemed foolish to rely on her feelings.

 _Heh, always preparing for doomsday, huh, Kunzite?_ the joking lilt to the boy’s words made it clear what his expression was, even if the image was still hazy. “Someone has to…” he started to respond out loud, before the rest of the memory evaded him.

“Kunzite?” Ah, this was Zoisite’s first time to see this happen, wasn’t it?

“I said, do it. But see that you don’t betray us.”

She studied him, expression near unreadable, and then raised her pen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I take like five months to write like half a chapter. As for the Shitennou going rogue, some of this is borrowed from some of Kunzite's other iterations, who typically appear somewhat less trusting of Queen Beryl. I also think that whether he knows Ami's name or not, referring to her strictly by her Guardian title is a choice he makes to avoid seeing her as anything but an enemy. Even if she might be a useful defense in this instance. (Though I actually do have another work in progress exploring more of his character in Reconquista)
> 
> Some of this chapter is also purely the product of my tendency to put the Shitennou into somewhat wacky antics on my tumblr. Which is kind of partially the fault of the musicals (both older and newer) for having so many funny moments about the designated miniboss squad of the show. But I also kind of like the idea that trolling a bit is part of how Nephrite copes with the situation at hand.
> 
> Zoisite being somewhat oblivious to their past in the Silver Millennium is because in La Reconquista, he's the only one who never seems to show an adverse reaction to their memories, which to me implies that he may not have regained them. I tend to headcanon that he has some awareness of events, but most of them are pieced together from what Ami would have told him. 
> 
> This concept is another one that I thought I might like to expand on a bit at some point, though I don't necessarily know when I would get around to it.
> 
> But in any event, I'd be glad to know what you think!  
> ~Rin


End file.
